What has been speculated for weeks, is now official. ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” will have the team that led FOX Sports’ NFL coverage for 20 years as its broadcast team.
The Worldwide Leader announced on Wednesday that Joe Buck will do play-by-play and Troy Aikman will be the color commentator on its MNF games in 2022.
Let’s go!
— Joe Buck (@Buck) March 16, 2022
ESPN has signed acclaimed play-by-play commentator Joe Buck and leading football analyst Troy Aikman to multi-year deals, as the NFL’s longest current booth pairing and Pro Football Hall of Fame members will become the new voices of Monday Night Football. The iconic duo’s 2022 Monday Night Football debut will mark their 21st NFL season in the booth together, matching the legendary Pat Summerall and John Madden’s all-time record as on-air NFL partners. In their two decades together, Buck and Aikman have called six Super Bowls, surpassing all other pairings/booths except for Summerall and Madden. Accomplished commentator Lisa Salters, Monday Night Football’s longest-tenured sideline reporter, will return for her 11th season on the series. John Parry will be the officiating analyst once again.
As part of the agreement, Buck and Aikman will both contribute content to ESPN+, with more details to be announced at a later date.
Both Buck and Aikman offered comments in the ESPN release:
“Everything about Monday Night Football, including the broadcast, set the standard for the modern NFL experience. My earliest memories of walking around football stadiums are tagging along with my dad as he called Monday Night Football on radio,” Buck said. “To return to the stadium on Monday nights with Troy – who I have the utmost comfort with and confidence in – and begin a new chapter, for us and ESPN, has me excited about this season and our future.”
Aikman said, “The opportunity to be a voice on Monday Night Football, adding to its legacy and being a part of the future of the NFL on ESPN, has me motivated and reflective. As a kid in California, the voices of Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, and my mom’s personal favorite, Don Meredith, echoed throughout our living room each week. Joe and I are humbled to be part of that same tradition that has existed for more than 50 years across generations of football fans. I am looking forward to the next several years with ESPN and all our new teammates.”
